“Already, there are complaints over the collection of the cards, as many of the registered voters are unable to get their PVCs.

“Nigerians who registered to vote but can not get their PVCs will not lend credibility to the elections,’’ Ebuka said.

He said that incident where voters could not locate their particulars on the Voters’ Register on election days might cast doubt about the legitimacy of the elections in the minds of such voters.

On his part, Pastor John Adebayo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Harmony Parish, Itaoluwo, Lagos also urged INEC to review its result collation and the system of announcing election results.

“By now, I expect INEC to be upgrading its ICT usage to improve on transmission of votes cast from distance voting stations to the main collation centre.”

“Processes that will make votes cast to be effectively collated and the results speedily announced should be on the front burner of INEC reform agenda.

A situation whereby announced results will not tally with number of registered voters or number of voided votes and other criteria before announcing final results may mar the legitimacy of the polls.

“INEC needs to see that mistakes of the past in the area of announcing results don’t reoccur during the 2019 general elections,’’ he said.

Contributing, Sheik Sulaimon Habila, the Chief Imam, Jamahliy Muslim Society, Ikorodu Branch, called for more voter education that would discourage electorate from accepting any form of inducement before they elect their leaders.

He also advised INEC to let party agents know the implication of inducing voters during voting to avert annulment of results according to the electoral law.

“Campaign of any sort should not be allowed on voting day because it is against the law.

“Any party that indulges in such should have its results at such polling station voided,’’ he said.

The Ugandan Parliament members on Thursday welcomed over 100 religious leaders across the country to pray for and sanitise the house following a series of fights amongst them in the past weeks.

On September 27, a fight ensued among the legislators leaving many injured, about 25 suspended and several others arrested.

The fight started after a member of the opposition party accused a fellow minister of smuggling a gun into the chambers.

According to Ugadanmonitor, a group of Pentecostal Christian leaders converged inside the Parliament chambers to cleanse it of what they called ‘evil spirit’ following the recent chaos.

The religious leaders were led by a renowned Ugandan pastor, Julius Oyet, who prayed and sanctified the chambers with the blood of Jesus.

He was quoted as saying; “We pray for wisdom and guidance. We declare that no weapon formed against her will prevail and that she will not die prematurely.

“We speak peace in this chambers and rotation of leaders, we pray for a sober spirit as members debate the Bill and silence all other spirits in this place. We pray that whatever they do, will be done with fear, peace, love, unity and respect for one another.”

A 43-year-old pastor, Uchenna Okafor, was on Friday brought before a Makurdi Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly defrauding a church member of N1.7m.

Okafor is facing a two-count of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation, punishable under Sections 310 and 313 of the Penal Code, Laws of Benue.

Police Prosecutor, Godwin Ato, told the court that a petition was received on Aug. 1 by the State Criminal Investigations Department, Makurdi, written by the complainant, Mr Peter Irokwende, dated July 28, 2017, and addressed to the State Police Commissioner.

According to him, the complainant sold his plot of land to one Uchenna Iroegbu for N1.7m and Iroegbu collected his wife’s pastor’s account no. 4703061956 at EcoBank bearing the name of Pastor Uchenna Livinus Okafor to pay money into.

He gave the pastor’s account details to the buyer of the land, who paid the N1.7 million into the account.

“But the pastor converted the money to his own use.”

The pastor pleaded not guilty.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Isaac Ajim, in his ruling, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50,000 with a surety in the same amount and adjourned the case until Sept. 13.

A Ghanaian pastor has reacted to the recent mobbing death of Captain Adam Mahama, the Ghanaian soldier who was stoned to death and thereafter burnt after he was mistaken for an armed robber.

Controversial pastor, Bishop Daniel Obinim, was the first to react to the death when he said that he wanted to save the army captain, but Jesus Christ warned him (Obinim) through his WhatsApp to desist from doing so.

The WhatsApp is a free messaging app.

Obinim, who leads the International Godsway Church, said he had seen the lynching of Captain Mahama and wanted to “fly to the scene” of the incident to save him, but his “father Jesus Christ” sent him a message on WhatsApp that he “should not distort the happenings.”

In an interview with a Ghana media, Obinim said the captain’s time was due and Jesus needed him to sit with him by his side in heaven.

He, however, cursed that the villagers who lynched Mahama would not know peace till they die.

Obinim is said to have been in and out of Police custody several times for certain allegations. The most recent was said to be the flogging of a pregnant woman in his church.

Menahile, another church leader, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, founder of the Lighthouse Chapel International, had visited Mahama’s widow to commiserate with his family, myjoyonline stated.

Bishop Mills based his consolation message on 2 Corinthians 1:3 to 4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction…”

The late Mahama and his family reportedly worshipped at the Cantonment branch of the Lighthouse Chapel International.

40 people were killed and 74 were injured in the blast in Balad (Picture: EPA)

Leading Muslim and Christian clerics in the Middle East issued a statement Wednesday urging against linking Islam to terrorism, following a conference in Cairo on co-existence.

The conference, hosted by the prestigious Sunni Muslim Al-Azhar institute, comes as a sectarian conflict continues to ravage the region and after a spate of jihadist attacks on Christians in Egypt.

It also comes after US president Donald Trump’s administration shifted from the vaguer language of its predecessor by identifying its fight as against “radical Islamic terrorism.”

Former president Barack Obama, who led an international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, had argued that calling the jihadists “Islamic” gave them legitimacy.

A closing statement read by Azhar’s Sheikh Ahmed Tayeb demanded Islam not be associated with terrorism.

“The conference demands that those who link Islam and other religions with terrorism immediately stop,” he said.

“Judging Islam by the criminal actions of some who associate with it opens the door to describing all religions as terrorism, which justifies extremist modernists’ argument that societies must be rid of religion,” he added.

The two-day conference was attended by Muslim muftis and Christian clergy such as Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, as well as representatives of US and British churches.

The statement urged fostering understanding and equality between religions.

IS, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq, views Christians as enemies who should either be killed or subjugated.

In Egypt, the group’s affiliate called for war on the Coptic minority after bombing a church in December, killing 29 people.

The jihadists say they base their views on verses in the Koran and sayings of the prophet Mohamed, which moderates like Tayeb argue have been taken out of context.